In recent years, robotic communications have received tremendous attention in the literature. With cloud robotics platform in place, indoor and outdoor robotic communications, and the communication of robots to a cloud server have become a reality. Moreover, it supports a reliable communication and computing framework required for robotic communications. It also provides network services such as network coverage, network access, and on-demand services. Cloud servers also support computational services in terms of storage, processing power, information management, and so on, in the robotics platform. However, in a scenario where heterogeneous mobile robots are deployed, continuous direct communication between the robots and the cloud becomes a challenge. That means, in a scenario where multiple robots are deployed to perform various tasks and to update the gathered data to the cloud, due to distance and environmental constraints, direct or single hop communication with the cloud may not be possible. In addition to this, un-reliable communication links can trigger packet drops, thus demanding retransmission of data. However, the retransmission of data can lead to substantial transmission delay and communication cost. With the increase in communication cost, computation cost and energy consumption also increase in the network. Distributed systems are much more efficient than centralized system in terms of communication and computation in cloud robotics. In distributed systems, a task is performed by a team of robots and the mission is achieved in the lowest possible time. If some of the robots fail to operate in their mission, then rest of the robots in the team can take over the task of the failed robot.
The inventors here have recognized several technical problems with such conventional systems, as explained below. Considering the use case of an outdoor environment, where robots dynamically change their positions, it is difficult to maintain consistent end-to-end reliable communication links among the robots and between the robots and the cloud. In addition to distance and environmental factors, robotic motion also impacts the link quality. Robotic motion control results in link quality degradation due to movement of robotic wheels and this robotic motion cause's battery power drainage which in turn affects processing power.